This application claims the priority of German patent document 199 55 664.4, filed 19 Nov. 1999, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a flight control display for use in an aircraft cockpit and in aircraft simulation systems, particular to a display for displaying an artificial view of the outside world.
Displays with an artificial view are known for flight control applications in which the outside world is displayed in a more or less detailed fashion. In this case, the viewing direction on which the display is based is situated, for example, according to German Patent Document DE 43 14811 A1 in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the real or simulated aircraft. In other applications, the viewing direction for displaying the artificial view may also be selectable. In special applications, the viewing direction for displaying the artificial view is coupled with the pilot's head movement or even with his eye movement in order to display to him in a direct manner those areas of the outside world which are of immediate interest to him.
The disadvantage of these display methods is that aircraft-specific data, such as flight condition variables, must be taken into account and checked at any time during the operation. In flight phases with high maneuvering performance or high mission demands, this may result in an excessive stress to the pilot, requiring that he simultaneously take into account aircraft-specific parameters, which may largely be critical variables, as well as marginal conditions of the outside world.
German Patent Document DE 3904077 C1 discloses a display for providing the pilot with an orientation in space during a flight with high angles of incidence, and simultaneously with position information.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flight control display for simulation applications and operational usage, by means of which the pilot can simultaneously detect, as ergonomically as possible, information concerning the outside as well as aircraft-specific condition variables.
This and other objects and advantages are achieved according to the invention by projecting a display of the actual or simulated aircraft onto the landscape base. In this manner, an artificial view is achieved in which couplings can be recognized between different axes of movement (for example, the coupling of the roll-yaw vibration), in which case the pilot does not have to derive such a coupling from other indicating elements. As a result, the pilot can initiate countermeasures or recognize maneuvering limits usually without any large intermediate steps of thought. The display of the control surface deflections provided according to the invention is helpful in this case, because the pilot learns in a graphic manner the reaction of the aircraft to the control surface deflections.
In the case of modern aircraft which utilize flight control by means of a computer (FCC), control surface deflection is dependent not only on pilot input but also on the flight condition. By simultaneously displaying the control surface deflections and the flight condition in the display according to the invention, the engineer developing the flight control software is permitted to directly recognize the relationships.
The invention provides a display in which the flight path is shown as uncoupled from the aircraft-fixed system of coordinates; that is, the pilot can (separately in each case) perceive the coordinate axes of the flight path, the aircraft-fixed coordinate axes as well as the flow angles (angle of incidence and angle of yaw) existing between these coordinate axes in a display.
Another advantage of the display according to the invention is the small required display screen diagonal. The reason is that the pilot's viewing direction normally extends in the flight direction, and the latter is always situated in the center of the display screen. The display screen cutout of conventional displays has the extended longitudinal axis of the aircraft in the center of the display screen. In the case of high angles of incidence or angles of yaw, the center of the display screen cutout therefore deviates considerably from the flight path, and therefore requires a larger display screen diagonal in order to also display the landscape in the flight direction.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.